This invention relates to a connector engaging/disengaging device for engaging and disengaging a plurality of electrical connectors (which will simply be referred to as "connectors") to and from a plurality of mating connectors and, in particular, to a connector engaging/disengaging device for engaging and disengaging a plurality of connectors connected to a plurality of cables to and from a plurality of mating connectors mounted on a printed circuit board for the purpose of data transmission between electronic components.
In existing electronic apparatus, electrical cables (which will simply be referred to as "cables") are used for transmitting signals between electronic parts and connectors are used for making electronic connection between the cables and the parts. For example, in order to electrically connect a particular one of many printed circuit boards with other ones of the printed circuit boards and/or electrical elements through cables, connectors are mounted on the particular circuit board, while the cables are led out from the other printed circuit boards and the electrical elements and mounted with cable connectors at their ends. The cable connectors are engaged with corresponding ones of the connectors mounted on the particular printed circuit board. Each of the cables often has a plurality of conductor lines, although it might have a single conductor line. Accordingly, each of cable connectors has a plurality of contacts or a single contact. In a case, a plurality of cables are accommodated in a single cable connector having a plurality of contacts. Each of the connectors mounted on the particular printed circuit board has a number of contacts equal to the number of contacts in the corresponding one of the cable connectors.
When carrying out wiring operation in a housing of an electronic apparatus, it is necessary to engage and connect connectors to each other. Since the engaging operation is usually performed by a use of hands, the housing is required to have a relatively large space sufficient to enable the manual operation in the housing. This results in a demand for a relatively large-size housing to be used.
In recent electronic apparatus., especially, computers, electronic parts used have been increased in number, and therefore, cables and connectors have also been increased in number. Further, for the demand of small-size of the apparatus itself and of reduction of signal transmission time, it is required that the housing is small-sized, parts being mounted in small mounting density, and cables being reduced in length. Therefore, on one hand, the wiring operation becomes more difficult because manual operation for engaging connectors to each other must be an reduced space in the housing, and, on the other hand, insurance of the manual operation of the wiring make it difficult to small size the apparatus.